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@Infoseepage
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Found a really good write-up of Almond Castle with a lot of old etchings/drawings which show it with some of the later stage additions which have now collapsed entirely into rubble. The thick walled keep remains and almost everything else is now gone. We also have none of the surrounding grounds (It had a moat!), as the mining operation almost pushes up against the tower. Really angry about that, btw. This building should be better protected by law.
https://falkirklocalhistory.club/around-the-area/castles/almond-castle/
After that, I departed pretty quickly and made my way back the way I came. It's about 25 minutes walk to the nearest bus stop. There is a car park near a bridge over the canal which is probably the closest you could get by car.
I'm not sure I'd recommend visiting this one, honestly. They should at least rename it Danger Castle or something. In its present state, it is manifestly unsafe in multiple ways.
Hope you got your fill from the ride-along.
I was able to get to the main stairwell turret, but only stuck my camera inside. Any falling stone would almost be guaranteed to hit you in the narrow confines and the stairs aren't traversable up to the next landing.
I'm surprised the building doesn't collapse from the rumble of heavy machinery. They've got heavy earth moving gear working that nearby. To me, they're not making a good faith effort to not impact the structure. A pity, as precarious as it is, the tower is in fairly good shape, but the vaulted roof would be a monumental and delicate task to salvage.
There are some niches off the main room. One of them leads to the main stair turret. There are a number of niches for storage and also a lancet like pointed one which might be indications of a chapel on the second floor. The way I read the beam work is the tower had three living floors plus a livable Garret under the top vaulted ceiling and a vaulted basement for storage. Plus you had buildings against the sides of the tower as well and probably a courtyard in the areas now being mined.
Big hole in the floor to remind you that the kitchen is on top of something equally unsafe. The roof is not safe from here either. I kept to the edges of the floors and doorways, where I was less likely to fall through or to get my head pulped by a rock.
The 1st floor window takes you into the kitchen, which has some very unsafe masonry overhanging it. The fireplace had an arrow slit window at the back and a sink/slop drain built into the left hand side. Lots of very nicely shaped stonework in evidence throughout. The right hand side of the fireplace contains what was probably a bread oven.
I left the way I came and then circled the building with difficulty, doing more scrambling. At the elbow of the L plan of the tower is a rubble pile which you can. Climb to enter through a first floor window. There is a bit of wall free standing away from the tower and the tower in this section has a bunch of small rectangular holes in it. There is also a curved section of masonry. Doocot? Stairwell tower? The main stair doesn't go to ground level, so they needed a means of access somewhere.
The reason why Almond Castle is so unsafe lies above you all the time, tons and tons of unsecured stone including a massive vaulted roof which has already started to collapse in place. It could go at any time and when it does, it will take out the remains of the ground floor vault entirely, so standing under the remains of this vault provides little security. I tried to keep my body under strong arches, but was largely relying on luck.
I quickly crossed the rubble pile to the opposite side to get the reverse shot if the front door, but didn't dare to take the rickety chair route to step onto the margins of the vault. I am not up for parkour and disturbing the stonework here in any way might be very bad news.
